The 18-month long program looks to help residents in economically disadvantaged areas of Harris County recieve $500 a month to help meet basic needs like rent, groceries or child care.
How much does it take to live comfortably in Houston?
Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo and Commissioner Rodney Ellis introduced the $20.5 million investment program called Uplift Harris. The program will be proposed during Tuesday's Commissioner's Court meeting Tuesday. As the first of its kind for the city, a pilot program would launch later this year, if approved, where families living below 200% of the federal poverty line - approximately $40,000 for a family of four - will receive $500 a month to support household needs. FOX 26 Reporter Gabby Hart has more on why the county is growing so quickly.
The guaranteed funds would help families meet their basic needs like paying rent, buying groceries, transportation, or child care. Because Harris County is one of the most economically segregated regions in the U.S., with wealth disparities impacting people of color, the program looks to address these concerns.
"Decades of neglect, inequity, and discrimination have financially destabilized generations of Harris County families, perpetuated poverty, and created unfair barriers to prosperity," Commissioner Ellis explained. "Unchecked and ongoing inequality has created an economic divide that families can’t overcome on their own, and Harris County has an obligation to act."
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